My attention has recently been drawn to the report on The State of Ageing and Health in Europe (International Longevity Centre (ILC)-UK and The Merck Company Foundation (MCF), 2006) which was launched at the end of June this year. Many of the findings within the report, in relation to morbidity and mortality statistics, are not particularly surprising. Neither is the fact that there continue to be inequalities in health status and life expectancy for groups such as minority ethnic groups, those that are socially isolated, disabled older people and older women. It is disappointing though, considering how long these inequalities have been recognized, but at least the report highlighted that steps had been taken in some countries to address this. What did, however, hit home for me was the statement that ‘only cardiovascular disease has a greater toll on morbidity and mortality than depression’ (ILC-UK and MCF, 2006: 6) with depression as the major cause of suicide in European older people. Rates of both suicide and self-harm are approximately 26% higher in people over 65 years than in people aged between 25 and 64 years, and in 90% of the European Union countries the suicide rate is highest in those aged over 75 years. The risk for depression was found to be greater in older women and those with lower socioeconomic status.